


The Half-Troll

by Aurik_Kal_Durin



Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: Family, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Hilda and the Mountain King, Hurt/Comfort, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Netflix series, TV Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28644384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurik_Kal_Durin/pseuds/Aurik_Kal_Durin
Summary: Three weeks after the Night of the Trolls, Hilda is still coping with the aftermath of her ordeal... having retained some troll-like traits. In this short story, Hilda- with her mother's help- must find a cure for her condition, David will find the courage to stand up for his friends, and Johanna will face her inner demons after the most traumatic event of her life. (Two-shot. Takes place after The Mountain King but follows the animated series.)
Relationships: David & Hilda (Hilda)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62





	1. The Troll's Curse

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains spoilers for "The Mountain King" if you haven't read it. You've been warned!

The first thing Hilda noticed when she awoke was the searing pain in her head.

Hilda shot up out of bed, crying out in agony and clamping her hands over her ears. It felt like someone was beating a sledgehammer against the inside of her skull. Nearly blinded by the pain, she didn't notice Twig tumbling off her bed in terror, or a bewildered Alfur popping out of the clock face, having been rudely awoken by the sound of her screams.

It wasn’t for nearly a minute that Hilda noticed the sound, like someone was pounding a giant gong inside of her. She searched her bedroom for the source, when she realized that it was coming from her alarm clock.

Hilda swatted the clock off of her nightstand in a vain effort to shut off the alarm, only for it to land on it’s face, still ringing upon the carpet. Hilda scrambled onto the floor, taking her hands off of her ears long enough to fumble with the clock, and pressed the button to silence the bells.

“Good Lord, Hilda... what was that!?!” Asked a concerned Alfur.

“Ugh...” Hilda groaned. “I’m not sure... but that bell. Ow...”

“Didn’t you say that bells made your head hurt when you were a troll?” Alfur recalled.

“Yeah...” said Hilda. “Yeah, that was just like when I woke up and I have a bell hanging from nose. But why would it hurt me now?”

“Hmm,” pondered Alfur. “Perhaps a residual side-effect of the changeling spell?”

“But it’s been 3 weeks!” Hilda reminded him. “Why would I only be feeling it now!?!”

“Actually, according to my records...” Alfur began, taking out his notebook. “You’ve been acting increasingly distressed around bells all for the last three weeks. Not to mention you seem a bit... energetic. Not tiring as easily, a noticeable increase in physical strength and endurance... and you can still speak to trolls.”

“You... honestly haven’t noticed?” Alfur inquired.

“I haven’t paid it much mind, no,” Hilda answered.

“Not even when the giant bell at your school goes off?” Alfur inquired further.

“No, the school bell’s been broken for over a month,” Hilda informed the diminutive elf. “They’re supposed to be putting in a new one this week.”

“I should probably inform Johanna about this,” Alfur said to himself. “If that bells goes off while you’re at school, I shudder to- Hilda, wait!”

Hilda staggered out the door and into the hall. From her room, she’d heard the whistle of the tea kettle, and smelled the aroma of eggs cooking in the pan, indicating that her mum was already up and had made breakfast. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she tried to ignore the throbbing pain in the back of her head, Hilda traipsed on down the hall and into the kitchen.

Johanna looked up from the frying pan as Hilda took her seat, raising an eyebrow.

“Hilda, are you alright?” She asked. “I heard you cry out; were you having a nightmare?”

“No,” said Hilda. “Something wrong with my flippin’ alarm clock, is all.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your alarm clock, Hilda... and you know it!” Piped Alfur, who’d just hopped up on the table.

“Whatever do you mean, Alfur?” Johanna asked.

“Hilda seems to have retained certain traits from her time as a troll,” Alfur elaborated. “Including an increased sensitivity to the sound of bells... and it’s been getting worse over the last few weeks!”

“Hilda, is this true?” Her mum asked.

“It’s not that bad, really,” Hilda replied dismissively. “Just side effects... I’m sure it’ll go away eventually!”

“That was pretty bad, what I just saw, Hilda!” Alfur objected. “Why, you were have a fit! And need I repeat myself; it hasn’t been going away, it’s been getting worse!”

“Things have to get worse before they get better, right mum?” Hilda suggested.

“Maybe,” Johanna tentatively agreed. “But Hilda, nothing like this has ever happened before; how do we know you’re not turning back into a troll?”

“Admittedly, that does seem unlikely,” Alfur interjected. “But these side-effects are bad enough...”

“Hilda, do you know when they’re installing the new school bell?” Johanna asked as she placed two eggs and pieces of toast on her daughter’s plate.

“This week,” Hilda answered groggily, picking up her fork.

“I’m going to have a chat with the principal after I drop you off today,” Johanna insisted. “Make sure he knows not to ring that thing until we know these side-effects have stopped.”

Hilda nodded in agreement. Even three weeks later, she hadn’t forgotten the horrible sound when she approached the bell tower as a troll. The pain had been unbearable... she was certain that if she’d gotten any closer, it might’ve killed her. Then there was the bright light and burning sensation she felt the first time she stepped out into the sunlight. It just occurred to Hilda that the sun felt so much brighter and hotter than it normally did nowadays...

Hilda didn’t mention this to her mum, but had a feeling she suspected. It would be hard for Johanna to miss the fact that her daughter was raising her arm to shield her eyes as they left for school, but she didn’t say anything.

At Johanna’s insistence, Alfur would accompany Hilda to school that morning. She was counting on the ever-observant little elf to keep record of any other side-effects Hilda experienced. Shortly after they began their walk towards school, the elf was already jotting down ‘increased sensitivity to sunlight’ in his notebook.

When they got to school, Johanna was relieved to see that the old, cracked school bell was still hanging from the bell tower.

“I’ll just pop in real quickly and let Principal Magnuson to not ring the new bell until we get this sorted out,” Johanna told Hilda as they arrived. “Are you going to be okay getting to your first class?”

“Don’t worry so much, mum,” Hilda insisted. “I’m fine. I just... I overreacted a little this morning, that’s all! It caught me by surprise.”

Johanna frowned at her daughter’s downplaying of the situation, and made a mental note to disable the bell on her alarm clock when she got home.

* * *

Hilda didn't have any trouble finding her locker once inside. It felt nice and cool in the building; Hilda hadn’t told her mum, but outside felt like it was a hundred degrees, and her skin prickled in a way that felt as though she were sunburned. But she shrugged it off and soldiered on, determined to get her life back to normal and move on from her ordeal.

Hilda had recounted the tale of her adventure in the stone forest and subsequent nights as a troll to no one but her mum, Frida, David, and Alfur. Her mum of course was with her in the stone forest, but Hilda had to fill her in on everything that happened since waking up in the cave, having transformed into a troll. It’d been one of the most terrifying and harrowing ordeals of her life, waking up in a strange dark place with her mum, or Twig, or Alfur, naked and inhabiting a body that was not her own.

And then there was that moment of despair when the troll mum told her that she couldn’t reverse the spell, that Hilda might be stuck as a troll forever... that she might never see her real mum again...

It all worked out in the end, or so she thought. Being returned to their rightful mothers had turned both Hilda and Baba back to normal. Hilda remembered blacking out for but a moment before waking up, having returned to normal, naked and shivering and wrapped in her mother’s coat with David, Frida, Alfur, Tontu, and Ahlberg standing around them.

Having retained her ability to speak to trolls, Hilda was now considered what the troll mum had called ‘an honorary troll’. She could safely venture out into the wilderness at night without fear of being attacked by most trolls. There were still some that she had to watch out for; that massive two-headed troll they’d encountered in the stone forest was particularly hostile towards her for some reason. But the troll mum and her friends welcomed her with open arms, with a cup of troll mead waiting for her if ever she ventured out to join them by their campfire.

Hilda wouldn’t go back in the caves just yet, though. Not in the stone forest; that would be pushing it. Perhaps she was being paranoid, but Hilda wasn’t certain she wouldn’t turn back into a troll again if she went back inside the mountain... and these side-effects weren’t helping her paranoia.

“Hi Hilda!” Frida called out as she saw their friend approaching from down the hall. Hilda just remembered that she hadn't seen Frida for a while; she'd been bedridden for the past couple weeks with the flu and her parents, strict as they were, wouldn't allow Hilda or David to visit in case they caught it too.

“Lo’ Frida,” Hilda greeted tiredly.

“Are you alright?” Frida asked. “You look awful.”

Hilda yawned. “I’m fine, I just... had a bit of a rude awakening.”

“I know the feeling,” quipped David, who was looking as dreadful as Hilda, hunched over with bags under his eyes.

“Rough night, David?” Hilda asked.

“Woke up on the wrong side of my flippin’ bed again,” David admitted. “My back is killing me.”

“Well, both of you had best perk up,” Frida advised. “It’s gym first thing this morning, and we’re running laps today.”

David groaned. Hilda knew that he hated running laps, being the slowest kid in class. His current state would only slow him down even more, making for an all the more miserable morning for poor David.

Hilda wasn’t much looking forward to gym class either, as long as the sun was out. Normally she’d relish the opportunity to spend the morning outdoors in the school yard before they were shut inside for the rest of the day, but with her current situation...

Realizing that she would need her gym uniform, Hilda quickly dialed the combination to her locker and pulled on the handle-

-and pulled the locker door clean off it’s hinges.

For a moment, Hilda just stood there mortified as several kids nearby laughed. Frida and David exchanged worried looks. Hilda allowed the broken locker door to fall to the floor with a clatter.

“Hilda...?” Frida approached. “How did you do that?”

“I, uh...” Hilda stammered. “I’m not entirely sure.”

“Bullocks,” said David. “That’s the second time you’ve done that this week!”

“Wait, it is?” Asked a surprised Frida.

“It was nothing, Trevor must’ve loosened the screws on my locker door again-” Hilda began to explain, but David cut her off.

“There was nothing wrong with your locker last time, either!” He contested. “If someone loosened the screws, then why are the hinges bent?”

Hilda looked down at her locker door; the hinges were indeed barely hanging on, and the ends that’d been attached the locker itself were bent out of shape. It was looking less like a juvenile prank and more like a very large creature had ripped the door off.

 _Like a troll,_ Hilda thought unwittingly.

“Are either of you going to explain to me what’s gone?” Frida asked in an agitated manner.

“Later,” Hilda insisted. “C’mon; we’re going to be late for class!”

She pointed at the clock on the opposite wall. Since the bell was damaged, teachers had encouraged students to keep an eye on the clocks. There’d already been a few incidents where teachers lost track of time and kept the students for as long as a half-hour past the end of a period. Some kids were deliberately messing with the clocks too to confuse the teachers; Trevor and his friends were caught doing this more than once.

Frida and David weren’t given an opportunity to speak to Hilda in homeroom, seeing as they arrived late. Hilda seized the opportunity to inform Miss Hallgrim about her locker, and she immediately singled out Trevor as the culprit. Hilda might’ve felt sorry for him, but Trevor was becoming unbearable lately; word of Hilda’s kidnapping by trolls was spreading all over the school like wildfire, and since David had let it slip that Hilda had actually been turned into a troll, Trevor took full advantage of the situation by poking fun at Hilda and telling everyone that she was “half-troll” now in the most derogatory way. He and his friends had also taken to pelting her with rocks on the playground; Hilda was quite certain she’d never met a more mean-spirited group of children.

* * *

Once they got down to the gym, Frida and Hilda went into the girl’s locker room (David broke off to the boy’s locker room) where they changed into their gym uniforms. They both dressed in a sleeveless yellow t-shirt with ‘Ahlberg School’ printed in bold letters on the front, and black gym shorts before rejoining the boys to head outside. Hilda also tied her mane of cobalt-blue hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes.

Once out the door, Hilda subconsciously raised her arm to shield herself from the sunlight... something that did not get missed by David or Frida, who looked concerned. Hilda quickly lowered her arm to make it appear as though she was alright... all while trying to ignore the scorching heat of the sun beating down on the back of her neck. It was only 75 degrees out with no humidity, but to Hilda in felt closer 110 degrees. It didn’t make her sweat, but there was a mild stiffness in her joints that did not go unnoticed.

Hilda and the others were so preoccupied that none of them noticed the construction crane that’d appeared behind the school, which was in the process of lowering the old bell down from the tower. None of them were aware of the new school bell, sitting on a flatbed next to the crane, waiting to be lifted into place.

“Line up there, chaps!” Called Miss Wallace, their gym teacher. “Now... at the sound of the whistle, you are to begin runnin' around the perimeter of the school yard. Run fast, but remember to pace yourselves; you don’t want to get worn too quickly! David, I want to see you put some real effort in this time. And Trevor, no pushing!”

“Complete three laps 'round the yard, and then come back here and sit down on the bleachers,” Ms. Wallace instructed. “Ready?”

The students took their positions at the starting line. Ms. Wallace raised her whistle to her lips, and blew on it sharply.

The kids took off, Hilda quickly taking the lead as she broke out into a sprint. These races usually came down to Hilda, Frida, and Trevor, who were the fastest runners in the class. They were all evenly matched, and though Trevor enjoyed tripping up the other kids (especially David) during the run, it was more for his own amusement than out of necessity. Frida was the current record holder, having beaten Hilda in their last half-mile dash the previous month by just a few seconds.

But this time, Hilda was ahead of Frida within a few seconds. Way ahead. Farther ahead than should’ve been humanly possible for an 11-year old girl, in fact. Hilda was fast- spending most her life in the wilderness meant she’d gotten plenty of exercise- but she was more than a quarter of the way around the track before the other kids had cleared the first turn.

Hilda wasn’t paying attention and thus didn’t notice how far ahead she was until she’d cleared the first lap. But she couldn’t stop, even with the sun burning hot overhead. The stiffness she’d felt earlier was only a minor hindrance, and began to subside as she gained speed, allowing her to go even faster.

By the time Hilda cleared the second lap, she was in danger of passing the rest of the class. She eventually did pass them, circling around them on the far side as she entered in the third and final lap.

When Hilda finally crossed the finish line, the other students were only halfway through the third lap, with Frida and Trevor neck-to-neck at the front. Hilda came to a stop beside Ms. Wallace, who looked dumbfounded. Hilda wasn’t even tired, though the stiffness in her arms and legs was starting to return.

“Incredible, Hilda!” Ms. Wallace exclaimed, jotting down Hilda’s time on her clipboard. “That’s a new school record!”

“Not... possible... _how...?”_ Panted Frida as she crossed the finish line, just behind Trevor.

Frida’s confusion was nothing compared to Trevor, who looked livid. “There’s... no way... any kid could run that fast! She... cheated!”

“Did not!” Hilda said defensively, but she wasn’t making a great argument. Everyone else in class was out of breath and sweating. Hilda hadn’t even broken a sweat. Ms. Wallace was eyeing her with a crooked eyebrow.

“This is peculiar, but I don’t see how she could’ve possibly cheated Trevor-” Ms. Wallace.

“She’s half-troll for goodness sake!” Trevor spat. “She was just bragging last week about how being a troll made her super-strong and super-fast; and this morning, I saw her rip her locker door right out of the wall!”

“Stop calling me ‘half-troll’!” Hilda shouted back at him.

“That’s enough, both of you!” Said Ms. Wallace, who was still recording the times of the other students on her clipboard. “Take your seats at the bleachers! When everyone is finished, we’ll all head back inside for a game of sting ball!”

“Come along then, David! Hurry up!” Frida called out to David, who was lagging behind the rest of the class again.

It took a few more minutes for David to cross the finish line and for Ms. Wallace to jot down his time on her clipboard.

“Not good, David,” Ms. Wallace tsked. “I told you, I want to you put forth a greater effort.”

David ignored her, but instead went to sit beside David and Frida, massaging his aching back and looking miserable. The rest of the class was still exhausted, so they were allowed a short break while Ms. Wallace checked their numbers.

“Did you see Hilda, David?” Frida asked. “I’ve never seen anyone run that fast before!”

“Keep your voice down!” David urged, shooting a glare at Trevor.

“Now are the two of you going to explain to me what’s going on?” Frida asked.

“Alright,” Hilda agreed. “It’s like this... basically I’ve experiencing some side-effects from the troll’s changeling spell. I can still talk to them, I’m stronger, faster, and it hurts when I come out in the sunlight.”

“And then there’s the bells,” David added.

“Bells still hurt you?” Frida inquired.

“It wasn’t so bad at first,” Hilda explained. “But the when the bell on my alarm clock went off this morning... good lord, it was almost as bad when I woke up with a bell hanging from my nose!”

“Are you saying it’s gotten worse?” David asked.

“Don’t worry yourself too much, David!” Hilda urged. “It’ll probably go away in a couple of days.”

“You’d best hope it does, because if you’re still having problems when the new bell is installed-” Frida began.

“It’s alright,” Hilda assured her. “My mum told Principal Magnuson not to ring the bell until my symptoms are gone.”

“Don’t you think we ought to look for a cure?” David suggested.

“Nobody knows anything about troll magic, David,” said Frida. “When I told her about how Hilda became a changeling, Kaisa told me that she didn’t even know trolls could do magic.”

“But what difference does it make?” David asked. “Isn’t all magic the same?”

“No, David,” Frida answered. “A witch’s power is drawn from the latent energies in the world around them. A troll’s power would probably come from within, based on what Hilda described...”

“Nothing’s ever simple, is it?” Hilda groaned.

“Nothing worth doing ever is,” said Frida. “That’s what Tildy says.”

“Can we go inside now?” Hilda asked. “I can’t take the sun anymore.”

“I suppose,” Frida agreed. “I need a shower, myself.”

“I don’t know how you can use the showers at school,” David objected. “What with no privacy...”

“The human body is nothing to be ashamed of, David,” Frida argued.

Hilda was about to object to that statement, to make a point about the need for the privacy, when suddenly a thundering, gong-like sound split the air, causing her to fall to her knees and clamp her hands over her ears. The pain that surged through her head was indescribable.

“HILDA!!!” Cried Frida and David, rushing to their friend’s side.

Frida looked up for the source of the noise, and saw that the new school bell was in place in the bell tower. The workers seemed to be testing it, oblivious to the pain and suffering it was causing to the small girl below them.

The bell sounded again, causing Hilda to howl in pain. She lay on the ground in a fetal position, her hands still pressed to her ears in a vain effort to block out the sound of the bell.

Ms. Wallace was quick on the uptake and began waving her arms frantically in the direction of the bell tower, calling on the workers to stop.

But the workers couldn’t hear her, and the bell continued to ring for another two minutes before it finally stopped. When it was over, the other students were crowded around Hilda, with Ms. Wallace, David, and Frida kneeling beside her.

“Give her some room!” Ms. Wallace ordered. Hilda was curled up into a ball, shaking. David placed a hand on her shoulder, and shook her gently.

“Hilda?” He whispered. “Are you alright? Can you get up?”

Hilda’s response was little more than a pained groan.

“You two, take her to the nurse’s office right away!” Ms. Wallace told David and Frida. “I’m going to have a word with those workers. Everybody else, wait in the gym until I return!”

David and Frida obeyed, helping a crippled Hilda to her feet. Hilda nearly collapsed again and had to grab hold of David for support, causing the boy to blush. Eventually, they managed to help her find her footing and frog-marched their friend back inside.

* * *

Down at the nurse’s office, Frida and David waited anxiously, having explained what happened to the nurse, who’d taken Hilda into the back to rest. Alfur sat on the nurse’s desk, having been riding in Hilda’s bag all day, recording the incident in his journal.  
Eventually, Ms. Wallace arrived, looking a bit red in the face, like she’d been shouting.

“It seems Principal Magnuson forgot to tell the crew not to test the bell immediately after installing it,” she explained. “They were very curious as to why I asked them not to test it again. That foreman is such an obstinate man...”

“You argued with him?” Frida asked.

“I didn’t want him to know more than he needed to,” said Ms. Wallace. “Anyway, Principal Magnuson will call her mother, and she’ll be along shortly to take Hilda home. What did the nurse say?”

As if on cue, the nurse came out of the back room. Through the door, they could see Hilda sitting up on the bed, looking just a bit pale.

“Hilda’s going to be fine,” said the nurse. “ I gave her something for the headache, but as to what caused it...”

“Is it true what Trevor said?” Ms. Wallace asked Frida and David. “Is that girl... half-troll?”

“No!” Said Frida. “Not exactly... but she’s been experiencing some side-effects from when she was turned into a troll.”

“That actually happened?” Ms. Wallace exclaimed. “I heard about how she was kidnapped, but... I thought the part of her bein’ turned into one of ‘em was just an exaggeration!”

“Nope,” said David. “That actually happened. We both saw it.”

“Blimey...” said Ms. Wallace. “I’m gonna have to have a chat with Trevor about all this. Don’t want him spreadin’ nasty rumors about, people are already scared...”

And with that, she left.

“Can we go in and see her?” David asked the nurse. She nodded; Alfur hopped off the desk and onto David’s shoulder as to follow him and Frida into Hilda’s room. Hilda was perched on the edge of her bed, having taken off her gym sneakers so she could relax.

“Hilda?” David said tentatively. “Are you okay?”

“Ugh... no,” Hilda groaned, rubbing her forehead. “Never again... that was the worst...”

“Your mum’s coming to take you home,” said Frida. “If you want, we could come visit you after school! Maybe if we put our heads together, we can find a way to fix this!”

“That sounds good,” Hilda agreed, managing a weak smile.

“Ah, but it won’t be easy,” said Alfur. “I think our best bet would be to head out and speak to the mother troll tonight, if possible.”

“But she didn’t even know how to undo the spell in the first place!” Hilda reminded him.

“Be that as it may, it’s the only lead we’ve got,” Alfur lamented.

Hilda sighed. “I’m gonna go get my bag out of my locker,” she said, hopping down of the bed.

“I’ll go get the rest of your things from your gym locker,” Frida offered.

Hilda thanked her, and she and David set off down the hall towards Hilda’s locker. When they got there, they saw that the school janitor had just finished repairing it, as he passed them headed in the opposite direction with his toolbox.

“Oh... David? Do you think you could open this for me?” Hilda asked.

“Sure,” David agreed. “What’s your combination?”

Hilda gave David her numbers so that he could safely open the door without her pulling it off the hinges again. Hilda grabbed her bag, her books, and her pencil case. As they sat and waited for Frida to return with Hilda’s regular uniform, which she’d left in her gym locker, the other kids were let out of their classes to go to their next period. Hilda took a deep breath and tried to relax as she felt the dull throbbing in the back of her head. That medicine the nurse had given her had done little to numb the pain-

-then, a spike of pain shot up through Hilda’s skull and she cried out, falling down on all fours. She’d just barely registered the tinkle of a small bell.

 _“Hilda!”_ David called out, bending down to help her. He looked up, searching for the source of the noise, and spotted Trevor... waving a small hand bell at Hilda from across the hall.

“Hah! I knew it!” Trevor proclaimed. “I knew she was half-troll!”

“Knock it off, Trevor!” Said Frida, who’d just appeared behind him. “You’re hurting her!”

“Am I?” He asked sarcastically. Trevor waved the well again, and Hilda cried, clamping her hands over her ears once more.

“Look at her!” Trevor told everyone. “She’s scared of bells, just like a troll! She had a fit when the school bell went off; I saw it!”

Several kids were laughing; a few of them had started chanting _“Half-troll! Half-troll!”_ Meanwhile, Hilda lay upon the floor like an animal caught in a trap, trembling violently as Trevor continued to ring his bell, keeping her hands over her ears.

David couldn’t bear to see his friend like this. He looked from Hilda’s trembling form to Trevor, laughing cruelly at her distress. Anger swelled within him as his hands balled into fists.

“That’s enough, Trevor!” David yelled. “Leave her alone!”

“Why should I?” Trevor retorted. “She’s a freak! What is she to you... your girlfriend?”

Several kids laughed, and David faced turned redder still with embarrassment and anger. Frida was trying to push her way through the crowd to disarm Trevor.

But David was closer.

“I said, leave her alone!” David shouted.

And he snatched the bell out of Trevor’s hand. Before Trevor could react, he placed the bell in Hilda’s still-open locker, and slammed the door.

“Hey!” Trevor objected. “That’s mine you little prat-”

**_BAM!_ **

Without thinking, David turned around and punched Trevor square in the face, knocking him to the ground. The rest of the students in the hallway looked stunned. Trevor sat up, and brought his hand up to his nose, which was bleeding. David stood over the other boy, his chest heaving, his hands still balled into fists.

 _“Leave her alone,”_ David repeated. Hilda, who’d just recovered, was looking up at him in shock. David, the little boy who was scared of everything, had just stood up to one of the biggest bullies in school... and won.

David turned to Hilda, and offered her his hand.

“Are you alright?” He asked, pulling Hilda to her feet.

“My head is killing me,” said Hilda. “But I’m better now.”

“What is going on here?”

Hilda and David turned around to find Principal Magnuson, Ms. Hallgrim, and Hilda’s mother Johanna standing behind them. They did not look happy.

“Trevor? My office. Now,” said Ms. Hallgrim. Trevor got up and followed Ms. Hallgrim back down the hall towards her classroom, a few kids sniggering at him behind his back. Frida finally managed to extricate herself from the crowd to hand Hilda her school uniform, for which she thanked her.

“I’ll take those,” said Johanna, taking her daughters things from her. “Come on; I’ll walk you home, and you can get some rest. Alfur?”

“Oh!” Cried Alfur. “Right here, Johanna!” He hopped off David’s shoulder and landed in Johanna’s bag.

“David...” said Hilda. “That was... incredibly brave of you!”

“It was?” David replied nervously.

“It really was,” Johanna agreed. “Your parents should be proud of you, David. I know I am.”

David blushed. Hilda ran forward and threw her arms around him in a fierce hug.

“Thank you,” she said.

David could feel his face getting even redder. He could also feel that Hilda was hugging rather tight; too tight. He rather felt like she was crushing his spine.

“Um... Hilda? Troll strength...” David wheezed.

“Oh! Sorry...” Hilda apologized, stepping back.

“It’s alright!” David insisted, pressing a hand to his lower back. “Hey, I think my back feels better.”

Hilda, Johanna, and Frida laughed. Principal Magnuson apologized to Johanna profusely for the day’s events, claiming that he’d forgotten to inform the construction crew about the situation. Johanna waved him aside, insisting that she needed to get Hilda home.

This left David and Frida alone in the middle of the hallway, still in their gym clothes. David was still processing what’d just happened. He felt good... in fact, he hadn’t felt this good since he stood up to the Marra. Better, even...

“That was pretty incredible, David,” said Frida. “I never knew you had it in you!”

“Neither did I,” said David.

There was a pregnant pause.

“David?”

“Huh?”

“We really ought to be getting to our next class,” she insisted. “We’re already late!”

“Oh... right!” David agreed. The two of them rushed back to the gym to change out of their uniforms. While David was alone in the boy’s locker room, he found his thoughts drifting back to Hilda. The anger that boiled within him when Trevor tormented her. The odd sort of flutter in his chest when she hugged, the wildflower-and-peppermint scent of her hair-

“David, what are you doing in there!?” Frida called from outside the locker room, snapping David out of his reverie. “We’re 15 minutes late!”

“I’m coming!” David called back, tossing his gym clothes back in his locker and slamming the door before running back out after Frida.


	2. The Only Cure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with this chapter... re-reading it, it seems a bit rushed to me. But I could think of no other way to end this story, and this was all pretty spontaneous. Multi-chaptered fics have never been my strong suit. But I'll let you be the judge. Any feedback is appreciated.

_"Stay away from her."_

_Johanna stood her ground before the mother troll, cradling Hilda in one arm with the other outstretched, brandishing Ahlberg's torch gun at the troll's head._

_The mother troll just stood there, it’s hands raised in defense. Baba clung to her leg, unusually silent, and for the first time looking fearful. Deputy Gerda had raised her weapon as well, steely black eyes fixed on the troll. Ahlberg, David, and Frida merely stood back and watched the standoff from afar._

_“Hilda is my daughter, not yours,” Johanna said firmly. “Don’t you touch her ever again.”_

_The troll grunted out something that Johanna couldn’t understand. Hilda, with her arms around her mum’s neck, seemed to be listening intently though._

_“She says she’s sorry mum,” Hilda interpreted. “She made a mistake, she-”_

_“Sorry!?!” Johanna interrupted angrily. “I spent 3 days lost in a troll den, and when I finally make it home, when I finally thought my daughter was safe, I wake up the next morning to find out that she’s been kidnapped, turned into a troll, and replaced by that... thing!” (Her eyes shifted towards Baba) “...and all you can say is that you’re sorry!?!”_

_The troll said nothing more, but hung it’s head it shame. Johanna did not lower her weapon. Hilda stared at her mother fearfully; surely she wouldn’t try to kill the mother troll?_

_But no; Johanna lowered the torch, turned on her heel, and walked away. As she passed Ahlberg, she shoved the torch back into his hands._

_“David, Frida, come along,” Johanna insisted. “We’re going.”_

* * *

Hilda lie in bed, overcome with exhaustion and nausea. Her mum had given her a pair of red noise-reducing earmuffs to protect her from the bells, but Hilda’s head was still throbbing from the school bell earlier.

David and Frida came by later in the afternoon to visit Hilda and bring her the day’s homework. Frida stopped to say hi to Twig while David handed Hilda her books.

“Thanks again for sticking up for me back there,” Hilda said to David, who blushed.

“Oh... i-it was nothing,” David said modestly.

“It was amazing,” Frida insisted. “Frankly, it’s about time someone put Trevor in his place!”

David said nothing, but stood there blushing redder still at this praise. His face only got redder when Hilda leaned over to place a chaste kiss on his cheek.

“W-what... what was that for?” David stammered.

“For being amazing,” Hilda said, blushing a little herself. Behind David, Frida raised an eyebrow at Hilda, who merely shrugged in response.

David quietly excused himself, muttering something about having loads of work to do, and slipped out of the bedroom saying a hasty “goodbye” to Johanna as he passed her in the hallway.

“What’s wrong with David?” Asked Johanna.  
“No idea,” Frida lied.

“Hilda, if you’re feeling up to it, I thought we could head down to the library,” Johanna suggested. “see if we can find a way to fix this.”

“I don’t recall Kaisa having a whole lot of books on troll magic,” Frida lamented. “But it’s worth a shot. if the troll mom didn’t know how to reverse the spell...”

“This is are only option,” Johanna affirmed. “Hilda?”

“Can’t we wait ‘til tomorrow?” Hilda asked. “I’d rather not get up just now.”

“Hilda, for all we know you could be turning back into a troll!” Frida urged. “And it could be permanent this time! No, three weeks is long enough; we need to figure this out now!”

Hilda didn’t feel much like moving, but she couldn’t deny Frida’s logic. Begrudgingly, she agreed to go with them to the library, with Johanna offering to carry her.

It only took them a half-hour to get ready before setting off for the library on foot. Hilda kept her earmuffs on as her mother carried her through Trolberg, the hustle and bustle of the city oddly muffled. Hilda could see a bell tower ringing in the distance, but thankfully was unable to hear it. She only felt a slight twinge of pain as a teenager rode by on his bicycle, ringing the bell as he sped past. Johanna cupped the back of her daughter’s head as Hilda moaned from the discomfort.

“She looks so frail,” Frida commented, unheard by Hilda.

“I just hope we can find a way to reverse the spell at the library,” said Johanna. “I can’t bear to see her like this.”

Johanna had always known her daughter to be strong, optimistic, and brave to a fault. There wasn’t much that could ever dampen the girl’s spirits, and to see her like this... nearly crippled from the sound of a few bells, it was heart-breaking. More than that, it made Johanna angry. Angry at that mother troll for doing this to her. To think that troll had the audacity to steal her child from her bed, replace her with her own as if that could ever be a fair trade, turn her into a troll, and then try and apologize for it as if anything she could say would ever make up for all the pain and worry she’d caused to herself and to Hilda... it made Johanna’s blood boil. Her hold on her daughter tightened as they walked, as if she were afraid the same troll would appear from nowhere and snatch Hilda from her arms. Only when Hilda complained that she was holding her too tight did Johanna loosen her grip.

“Sorry,” said Johanna.

They arrived at the library in short order. Frida quickly found the librarian and pulled her aside, whispering something in her ear. Johanna carried Hilda upstairs and set her down in a chair where she’d indicated, the pair of them followed closely by the librarian and Frida.

“You’re Kaisa?” Johanna inquired.

“I am,” the younger woman answered. “And you are Johanna? Hilda’s mother?”

“I am,” Johanna answered back.

“Then follow me,” said Kaisa, pushing aside a nearby bookshelf to reveal a hidden staircase.

Johanna picked up Hilda and began carrying her down the stairs, but Hilda squirmed restlessly in her arms.

“I think I can walk on my own now,” Hilda insisted. “My head doesn’t hurt as much.”

“Alright,” said Johanna, setting her down gently.

“If you close the door, you can take those off,” said Kaisa, gesturing at Hilda’s earmuffs. “The rooms down here are soundproof.”

Hilda tore off her earmuffs and set them down on a nearby desk while Johanna turned to shut the door.

“Now, let me see...” Kaisa mused. “I don’t think I have any books on troll magic specifically- honestly, I didn’t even know they could do magic- but from what Frida described to me, their magic should work the same as our own.”

“Witches draw their power from the residual energies in the world around them,” Frida explained to Johanna. “But trolls seem to draw their power from somewhere within. It’s hard to say.”

“What does that mean?” Johanna asked.

“It means that in the event we can’t find any answers here, we will have only one option,” Kaisa elaborated. “But hopefully it won’t come to that.”

“One option?” Johanna repeated. “What do you mean?”

But Kaisa wasn’t paying attention to Johanna as she combed over the shelves, muttering things under her breath.

“‘Existential Tyranny, Part I’... no...” Kaisa muttered to herself. “‘Marauding With Monsters... ach, useless... ‘Applied Sciences of Transfiguration and Metamorphosis’...”

“Ah, here we are!” Kaisa announced, drawing the attention of Johanna, Hilda, and Frida as she pulled a leather-bound tome from the shelf. “‘Changelings: Advanced Studies in Cross-Species Binary Transmutation’! This is what we’re looking for!”

Kaisa slid down the ladder and carried the tome over to the table where Hilda sat, opening it and flipping through the pages as the others gathered around her.

As Kaisa combed through the book, Hilda caught glimpses of various diagrams and notes showing elves transforming into giants, creating hybrids of forest creatures (including one that looked like a deerfox) and even human beings swapping bodies with others.

“Changeling spells are considered forbidden magic by the Witch’s Tower,” Kaisa explained to them. “In the past, witches would use them to steal powers from their rivals... thankfully, the magic is fairly complex. Any number of things could go wrong, so it’s never been widely practiced. I’m amazed that a troll was able to perform the spell.”

“How would she have learned that power in the first place?” Johanna asked her.

“A long time ago, witches of all stripes would try to enthrall trolls, using them to raise armies,” Kaisa explained. “But trolls are hardy creatures, not so easily ensnared. So instead, witches would teach them their magic in exchange for their service in their loyalty.”

“You can see how a changeling spell would appeal to a troll,” Kaisa went on. “If a troll were to quarrel with another who’s bigger and stronger than them, such a spell would allow them to usurp their rival’s strength, effectively turning the tables.”

“Mum, look!” Hilda pointed out. “It’s that troll with the two heads!”

Johanna looked over the page in question. One side showed two trolls of a very similar build, with one being noticeably smaller than the other. The next page showed a diagram of a two-headed troll that looked like a fusion of the first two. It did look very similar to the one she and Hilda had encountered in the stone forest.

“Yes, I’ve seen that troll wandering the countryside from time to time,” Kaisa affirmed. "I always assumed that troll was simply a mutant... but according to this, it was once two individual trolls. One was envious of the other's strength, and tried to imitate a changeling spell to acquire it. Obviously, it didn't work as intended..."

“We’re getting warmer,” Frida observed. “Surely there must be something about trolls swapping their offspring with human children.”

“Nothing so specific,” Kaisa lamented. “But it says here that when the child of one individual is swapped for another, the enchantment may be brought full-circle and undone if both children are reunited with their rightful parents...”

“We’ve already done that,” said Johanna. “Hilda changed back when we returned the troll child to it’s mother. Does it say anything about lasting side-effects?”

“Yes,” Kaisa answered. “It says here ‘When two children of different species are swapped, it is possible they may retain certain trains from their changeling form if the spell was cast improperly. Unfortunately, the only known means of permanently removing all traces of the enchantment is if the caster is destroyed.’ I was afraid of that...”

“What does that mean?” Asked Hilda.

“It means,” Kaisa began. “That these side-effects will only go away if the troll who cast the spell is slain.”

Hilda eyes widened in horror.

“No.”

“I’m afraid it’s the only way,” Kaisa lamented. “Such is the price for meddling in forces you don’t understand; it is a lesson we witches learned a long time ago, and a lesson trolls must learn as well.”

“There has to be another way!” Hilda pleaded.

“There isn’t,” said Johanna.

Hilda looked up at her mother with shock. “Mum, you can’t be serious about killing that troll-”

“I am serious,” Johanna affirmed, her expression darkening. “If this is the only way to help you, then I will do what has to be done.”

“Is that really why you would do this?” Hilda asked pointedly. “Because it sounds like you want revenge!”

“Can you blame her, Hilda?” Kaisa asked. “For a mother to have her child stolen from her... it is not something any woman would take lightly.”

“There has to be a better way than this...” Hilda repeated weakly.

“It is what it is,” said Kaisa. “Actions have consequences. If this troll is intelligent enough to wield such power, then it should be able to grasp such a simple concept.”

Hilda hung her head in defeat. Kaisa turned to her mother.

“How are you going to destroy it?” Kaisa asked Johanna.

“I’ll speak with Ahlberg,” said Johanna. “He has what I need.”

“Then I wish you luck,” Kaisa said to her, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Between you and me... were I you, I would mount that troll’s head on my wall.”

* * *

"Let me talk to her."

"No."

"Mum, _please!"_ Hilda pleaded. "If there's any chance she can fix this, we have to least try!"

Johanna was prepared. She'd gone to Safety Patrol headquarters immediately after leaving the library with Hilda, and explained the situation to Ahlberg and Gerda. Surprisingly, they were hesitant to antagonize the trolls now, even Ahlberg... but once they saw Hilda, still weak from her ordeal at school earlier that day, they agreed to escort Johanna to the troll mother's campsite, and provided her with the tools she would need.

Ahlberg had given her a torch gun and several spare fuel canisters. Luckily, Johanna was no stranger to firearms. Hilda never knew, but her mum had always kept a small handgun in her bedside drawer when they lived in their old cabin. She didn't have it anymore; she found it crushed to a pulp amid the rubble and left it there, and hadn't bothered to buy a new one since coming to Trolberg.

"Mum, this isn't like you," Hilda observed. "The mum I knew would never hurt a soul."

"You were a Sparrow Scout, for goodness sake!" Hilda reminded her. "You swore an oath to be good and helpful to all people, animals, and spirits!"

"That was a long time ago, Hilda," Johanna told her. "That was before a troll snatched from my daughter from me in the night."

"She helped us once..." Hilda recalled.

"And I regret that I ever trusted her," Johanna snapped.

 _"She made a mistake!"_ Hilda insisted. "And she knows it! She tried to apologize to you-"

"Hilda, _it doesn't matter!"_ Johanna insisted. "There is nothing she could ever say or do to atone for what she did... and this isn't just about how I feel; it's about _you._ This is the only way to cure you. Even if I didn't want to do this, I wouldn't have a choice now, would I?"

"You might," Hilda suggested. "Just let me talk to her first, that's all I ask! And if she can't fix this... I won't get in the way."

Johanna considered Hilda's offer for a moment. She was behaving somewhat irrationally, letting her anger control her. Setting down the torch gun for a moment, Johanna realized what kind of example she was setting for her daughter... as her mother, Johanna had to show Hilda that she was able to listen to reason. Otherwise, what kind of person might Hilda grow up to be?

"Alright," Johanna agreed. "You can talk to her, but if she can't reverse what she's done-"

"I understand," said Hilda.

"Then let's go."

* * *

The drive out into the woods to the troll's camp wasn't a long one, but it seemed to drag on forever. Johanna sat in the back seat of a Safety Patrol car with Hilda. Gerda was driving, while Ahlberg sat in the passenger seat, his torch at the ready.

"That's it, over there," said Johanna as the troll fire came into view. Through the trees, she could see four trolls sitting around the fire, including the faint outline of what was unmistakably a troll mother and her child.

Hilda got out of the car first. She was no longer wearing her earmuffs, as Ahlberg had order all the city bells silenced until further notice. Johanna got out after her, along with Gerda and Ahlberg.

The plan was simple. Hilda would speak to the mother troll and ask if she knew of any way to reverse the spell completely. If Hilda was convinced that there was a way, they would go in peace, and give her the time she needed. If not... Johanna was ready to do what needed to be done.

"Hello?" Hilda called out to the trolls. The mother troll turned her head, and Johanna immediately recognized her. Baba's mother. That was the one who'd stolen Hilda.

It took all of Johanna's self-control not to draw her weapon right then and there.

"Hilda," said the mother troll, her words unheard by any but Hilda. "I did not expect to see you again."

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call," Hilda told her solemnly.

The mother troll made a move like she meant to hug Hilda, but Hilda stepped back... and that's when the troll noticed her mother and the Safety Patrol. The other trolls stood up angrily, ready for a fight. One cracked his knuckles menacingly.

 _"Stop!"_ Said the mother troll. "Let us find out what it is they want."

"Hilda," she said. "What's all this about?"

Hilda launched into an explanation of her experiences the last few weeks. Her troll-like strength and speed, her sensitivity to sunlight and bells... she told her about what happened with the school bell and with Trevor earlier that day, and how it'd left her feeling crippled for much of the afternoon.

"My mum and I looked through some spellbooks to find a cure," Hilda explained. "But it says the only way to fix it is if the caster is destroyed."

"I see..." said the mother troll, hanging her head.

"Tell me you know a way to fix this," Hilda begged. "If you don't-"

"I'm sorry," said the mother troll. "I do not."

"You have to know something!" Hilda said. "How did you even learn the spell in the first place!?!"

"She learned it from me," boomed a familiar voice.

Hilda, Johanna, Gerda, and Ahlberg all looked up and beheld a massive troll. The jagged shape of his head had allowed him to blend in with the mountain behind him. The brother of Trundle, the Mountain King.

"Trundle's brother!" Hilda exclaimed.

"It is good to see you again, Hilda," Trundle's brother said to her. "Though I wish it were under happier circumstances..."

"Do you know a way to reverse the spell completely then?" Hilda asked.

"I do not," he replied solemnly.

"I warned you about this," he said to the mother troll. "When you came to me for that spell, I warned you of the price of such knowledge. I told you it would be irreversible. But you did not listen."

"The rest of you, go back inside," the troll king commanded the other trolls. "Do not speak of this to the others."

"You can't be serious!" One troll objected.

"I am," said the troll king. "All actions have consequences, as I warned your companion when she came to me in search of forbidden knowledge. This is what must be done."

"Word of your ordeal has spread throughout your city, has it not?" The troll king said to Hilda. "Your people are scared. Scared that their children would be stolen in the night and replaced by trolls, as you were."

"Their fears are not unfounded," the troll king went on. "Though I alone withhold that ancient knowledge, if my brethren were to obtain it through other means... the peace between humans and trolls would not last."

Johanna could only stand and watch in confusion as Hilda conversed with the trolls. Though she couldn't understand half of what was being said, it was clear from Hilda's responses that this debate was going nowhere. Destroying the mother troll was the only way to cure her daughter... but Johanna was beginning to doubt whether she could do it. She observed the mother troll closely. Though beyond forgiveness for what she'd done, Johanna could feel her anger ebbing away ever-so-slightly, Johanna was beginning to wonder privately if she could really do this... if she could take the life of another living creature, especially in front of Hilda.

Johanna was finally beginning to see the rashness in this course of action. But i changed nothing; this wasn't just for her satisfying her lust for vengeance. It was about helping her daughter to become normal again. Thinking of all the agony Hilda had endured in this day alone, what choice did she have?

"But I digress... There is much pain in your mother's heart," the troll-king went on. "I can sense it in her. As much pain as any mother, human or troll, would feel from having their offspring stolen from them."

"If there's any other way we can fix this..." Hilda trailed off.

"As I said, there is not," the troll king lamented. "And justice may be done."

His last words were directed at the mother troll, who nodded solemnly.

"Then I accept my fate," she said.

"Can you honestly say you harbor no resentment towards her, Hilda?" The troll king asked. "When you first woke as one of us, you were scared, and you were angry. You were determined to find your way home no matter what. You stole Trundle's eye from my horde and released him from his prison. You did not care what became of her after that. You showed her only apathy."

Hilda hung her head in shame. The troll king wasn't wrong. Hilda hadn't forgiven the troll mother for what she'd done. As big as her heart was, as much as she wanted to forgive and forget, being transmutated into a troll had been the most terrifying and traumatic ordeal of her life. Even if the troll mother repented, Hilda hadn’t wanted to see her again since that night... it was why she hadn’t sought her out before now.

But however she felt about her kidnapper, Hilda didn’t want her mother to kill the troll.

“I haven’t forgiven her,” Hilda admitted to the troll king. “I can’t. But... I don’t want my mum to kill her. That’s not who my mum is.”

Hilda looked pointedly at Johanna, saying nothing, but her eyes begged her mother not to do this.

Johanna felt her grip loosen on the torch gun in her hands.

“Justice must be done,” the troll king repeated. “If your mother will not do it, then someone else must-”

“I will do it,” said Deputy Gerda.

“You understood that?” Hilda asked.

“No,” said Gerda. “I can’t understand a word he’s saying.”

“But I understand enough,” said Gerda, looking at Johanna. She extended her hand, taking away Johanna’s torch gun and placing it in her holster.

“Both of you, go back to the car,” Gerda urged them. “Don’t look.”

Johanna picked up Hilda and carried her back to the car. Hilda took one last look at the mother troll, kneeling before Deputy Gerda, who held her weapon at the ready. Baba was picked up by the troll king, who carried the child away back towards his cave, his massive footsteps making the ground quake.

Gerda checked to make sure Johanna and her daughter were out of sight before turning back to face the troll.

“I’m sorry,” Gerda whispered.

She raised her weapon, pointed it at the troll’s head... and pulled the trigger.

* * *

When Hilda woke the next day, it was to the sound of city’s bells. Her head didn’t hurt anymore. The sunlight no longer burned her skin. Her strength and speed had returned to normal. When she went to school that day and ran the track, she placed 3rd behind Frida and Trevor. She was out of breath and sweating, her muscles aching by the end of it.

At lunchtime, Hilda sat outside with David and Frida. The sun was high above, and felt warm and comforting again as Hilda recounted the tale the previous night to her two friends.

“The troll king was right,” Frida asserted when Hilda had finished her story.

“You think?” Hilda asked.

“Absolutely, after what happened yesterday... Hilda, you could barely walk on your own after the school bell went off,” Frida reminded her. “Slaying the mother troll was the only way to cure you. She made her own bed, and lay in it.”

“I don’t know if there’s anything right or wrong about what happened,” David chimed in. “It’s what needed to be done. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Hilda sighed. “I guess... I’m just glad that my mum didn’t have to pull the trigger. And Baba should be okay, with the troll king...”

“But I wish there could’ve been another way,” said Hilda.

“Justice had to be served,” Frida insisted.

She loathed to admit it, but Frida was right. What the mother troll had done to her and her mother was inexcusable. A price had to be paid. There were some sins that couldn’t be forgiven.

* * *

“Mum?” Hilda called out as she entered her flat. “I’m home!”

Johanna was sitting at her drawing desk as usual, with Alfur perched at the top, scribbling in his notebook. Twig was asleep on the couch, and Tontu was nowhere to be seen; probably in Nowhere Space.

Johanna looked up from her work, and smiled at her daughter. “Hello, Hilda... how was school today?”

“It was alright,” said Hilda.

“Did that Trevor boy give you any bother?” Johanna asked.

“Nope,” said Hilda. “Honestly, I think he might be more scared of David now than me!”

Johanna chuckled. “Well, I’ve got a pie in the oven. Why don’t you go change, and we’ll sit down and eat?”

“Alright,” said Hilda.

Hilda quickly changed out of her school uniform and into her usual ensemble. She had plans to meet David and Frida at the park after dinner; after everything that’d happened the last few weeks, she was eager to move on and get back to a normal life.

But first, she needed to clear the air.

“Mum?” Hilda said once seated at the table. “I just wanted you to know... that I’m glad you didn’t kill that troll.”

“Hmm,” Johanna hummed. “I honestly don’t know if I could’ve done it. Especially not in front of you.”

“I was just so angry at her,” Johanna vented. “I wanted her to pay for what she did to you, and to me... and I almost lost myself.”

“I’m rather glad you didn’t,” said Hilda, picking up her fork as her mum put a slice of pie on her plate. Johanna smiled at her, then enveloped her in a bear hug and kissed her on the forehead.

Whatever animosity Johanna had felt towards that mother troll, she took no satisfaction in it's death. It had to be done, for Hilda's sake... but if there was another option, would she have considered it? Johanna had no answer, not then. As she held her daughter in her arms, all she could do was be glad that Hilda was okay, and that this terrible ordeal was finally and truly over.

**Author's Note:**

> That's just Part I. Part II will be up once I'm done proofreading and correcting any mistakes... in the mean time, I hope you'll leave a comment, bookmark, or kudos if you enjoyed this. I appreciate comments more than I do kudos; I like to hear what people think of my work, and constructive feedback is always welcome.


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